Shopping (and eating) in Mumbai
I always wait for some time before I write something after a trip to India. I tend to repeat myself and have to let it all sink in before I can put pen to paper.
I really wanted to go in October or November because there will be silk fairs and expo's all over town. The amount of material one can get is great and the quality superb. Many of the silk fairs have shops and weavers attending from all over India, giving me the opportunity to browse through enormous amounts of silks, brocades and cotton silks.
This time my trip was different because I took a friend. I normally enjoy plunging myself in Bombay life all by myself, going to all the fairs every day and meeting my friends in between for lunch, dinner and more. Having someone along that is new to India forced mo to add some sightseeing elements to my trip, and I actually enjoyed that (I hope she enjoyed me talking all the time about everything she should see, do or - most importantly, eat).
which brings me to the core of this story. Obviously I took my friend to see my Indian friends too. The main focus of everyone she met was wether I have fed her so and so:
" Did you take her to Gajalee?"
" Did she try pani puri"?.
" Surely she had Biryani!?"
" Which Biryani did you feed her?
" Did you offer her proper Indian breakfast?"
" Has she had aloo paratha, lassi, puri, idli, gulab jamun and paneer?"
I do contribute to this food frenzy big time by phoning in my favorites before I arrive. I always stay with my dear friend and am crazy about the biryani she serves. Even though we arrived in Mumbai past midnight, the biryani was there. Waiting for us to come home!
This well known (and very pleasant) focus towards food adds an extra dimension to my trips. This time things got a little bit tricky when one morning - late for a appointment - we left without having breakfast. After that morning my friends mom-in-law started checking on us every meal of the day, just to make sure that we were not only shopping but eating too.
So we did shop - a lot, but we ate even more.
And yes, my friend had pani puri, biryani, puri, idli, lassi and paneer. But we did not get a chance to have aloo paratha and gulab jamum.
We will have to wait till my next trip. I just hope it is soon, I am really really craving my Biryani......
We will have to discuss the silks next time.
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